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E.J. Dionne

Hey, America’s not in decline

The president always considered our intervention in Iraq a distracting mistake. Most Americans are happy our troops are out. He’s been far more ambivalent about Afghanistan, for political as well as substantive reasons. Like many Democrats, he saw the war in Afghanistan as justified by the events of Sept. 11, 2001, in a way Iraq was not. But time and conditions on the ground have convinced him that there are limits to what the United States can accomplish there. He’s trying to extract our troops in a careful but expeditious way. He has been reluctant to commit to large-scale public action in Syria on the grounds of prudence: The calculus of costs and benefits is not at all clear to him or to his advisers.

In the meantime, he is reorienting our foreign policy toward a surging Asia and concentrating on rebuilding the American economy. (We also should be paying more attention to Latin America, but that’s another story.) The appointments of Hagel and of John Kerry as secretary of state could have the additional benefit of strengthening our ties to Europe. The personal histories of both, as Financial Times columnist Philip Stevens observed last week, show they have “Atlanticism in their blood.”

None of this is about retreat, decline or isolationism. It’s an approach rooted in realism about the true sources of American power and the urgency of getting our domestic and economic act together. It’s the view reflected in the well-chosen title of a forthcoming book by Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations and a quintessential realist: “Foreign Policy Begins at Home: The Case for Putting America’s House in Order.”

Blowback

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Actually, I don’t think we are in a decline, we just are not advancing like our history and our ability tells us we can.

But it’s like the large truck going up the hill, we have pulled over to the slow lane and are creeping up the hill…we will eventually make it…but we should have the horsepower to cruise up these “hills” power through the tough times that always come along, under every administration.

Instead, we are limiting our horsepower, strength, and we have overloaded the truck with unnecessary baggage.

My niece just sent me a video of a woman who knocks out another woman in a checkout line who complained about her talking too loudly and swearing on her phone. No one does anything except scold her. She walks out with no one even trying to stop her.

Aside from EJ’s rosy outlook and apologies for his messiah, we are well into decline.

Only our rancid domestic politics stands in our way, and getting beyond our divisions requires Obama to build support for the consensus that’s waiting to be born. That’s why he should not shrink from a broad debate about our purposes in the world. He should welcome it, and join it.

Obama defines rancid domestic politics. His default position is to deal in bad faith. The willful blindness of the left is truly amazing.

Obama believes it is time for another nation to step up and be the world’s super power.
He believes wealthy Americans need to have their assets seized as if they are convicted drug dealers who grew their wealth illegally or immorally.
American superiority is not his first priority.